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November 20, 2020

Capitol Hill apartment using mass timber edges closer to MUP

By BRIAN MILLER
Real Estate Editor

Rendering by atelierjones [enlarge]
The residential mass timber project will be one of the first, if not the first, to rise in Seattle.

Community Roots Housing (formerly Capitol Hill Housing) owns a corner site where one old building, the Helen V, provides 38 units of affordable housing. Its parking lot, at 1323 E. Union St., will in a few years provide another 126 affordable units in a new eight-story mass timber building designed by atelierjones.

That unnamed project has passed through design review, and recently received a SEPA determination of non-significance from the city. The path is now clear to a master use permit. No start date or budget have been announced.

The new building will be set north of the Helen V, on the corner of 14th Avenue. And the two will share a new courtyard and pedestrian connectors that total around 2,821 square feet. One retail bay with about 400 square feet is programmed for the northeast corner of the new building.

Rents will be affordable to renters making 60% to 100% of area median income. Units will be 113 studios and 13 one-bedrooms, ranging from about 340 to 527 square feet. Total project size is about 66,416 square feet. No parking is included. Bike rooms will have about 91 stalls.

The team includes Swinerton, general contractor; DCI, structural and civil engineer; Geotech NW; Bergelectric, electrical engineer; HV Engineering, mechanical and plumbing; Blueline Group, landscape architect; Terrane, surveyor; and Skipstone, owner's rep/consultant.

Swinerton Mass Timber was recently formed for such projects, which are made possible by last year's revisions to the state building code. The architect notes on its website that the project “will utilize the new Type IV C building codes, which our founder, Susan Jones, helped to craft as part of the ICC Tall Wood Building Committee from 2016-2019.”

More tall mass timber projects are in planning around the city, including an 18-story apartment proposal on First Hill by Pryde Development and architect Clark Barnes; and an eight-story hotel plan in Ballard by Piramco and Clark Barnes.

And over in downtown Bellevue, Katerra and Wallace Properties are considering 16-story mass timber apartment project.


 


Brian Miller can be reached by email at brian.miller@djc.com or by phone at (206) 219-6517.




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